1. Technical Field
Aspects of this document relate generally to rotating induction grow light system and method.
2. Background Art
Indoor gardens, green houses, hydroponics systems, and isolated carbon dioxide growing chambers all require light to grow plants. Currently, the most common grow-light source is HID (High Intensity Discharge) lamps constructed from high-pressure sodium and metal halide technologies. The HID lamps have been a mainstay in the indoor gardening market for over 20 years, but they have many problems, such low power efficiencies, high heat discharge, etc.
Attenuation of light is a major issue faced by plant growers around the world. Plant growers would prefer to position the light fixture close and above the growing plants in order to limit the effects of attenuation. It is desirable to locate the fixture as close to the plants as possible, without causing heat impact on the plants that will stunt development or kill the plants. With HID lamps, this is hard to do because of the heat that these lamps produce.
Heat produced by a light fixture is always a design challenge and concern. The HID lamps by consequence of high lumen output with low power efficiencies produce undesirable amounts of heat. The thermal pollution or heat generated must then be isolated and removed from the growing environment. Thus, in addition to trying to cool the lamps themselves, roof vents of the greenhouse typically need to be opened to lower the inside temperature. This then wastes energy and removes from the greenhouse carbon dioxide that has been added therein and that the plants need for photosynthesis.
Greenhouse plants are typically illuminated by fastening light fixtures above the plants on support structures. This poses problems though when lamps or light bulbs need to be changed. Fluorescent lamps have been a market standard for starting plants or developing plants, leaving the flowering and fruiting yields to HID lamps. This requires growers to store and have on hand two different lamps or at the very least two different light bulbs. This is costly, not only in terms of storage and space, but also in the labor that is required to switch out bulbs and/or lamps at the different stages of plant growth.